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J. KNOUS & A.. E. WALLACE.

MAKING BICYCLE FORKS. N0. 813,083. Patented Mar.- 3, 1885.

WITNESSES W lN-VENTURS fi' A wgnL/v,

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UNITED SrA'rEs ATFNT OFFICE.

JOHN KNOUS AND ALBERT n. WALLACE, OF HARTFORD, oonn', ASSIGNORS TO THE POPE MANUFACTURING COMPANY, or SAME PLAcE.

MAKING BICYCLE-FORKS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 313,083, dated March 3, 1885.

Application filed November 2%, 1884.

.To allwhom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JOHN KNoUs and AL- BERT E. WALLACE, both of Hartford, Con necticut, have jointly invented certain new the following is a specification.

Our improvements relate more particularly to bicycles of metallic construction, and to that part of the frame of them known as the rear fork and our invention consists in a ncwart or method of making rear forks.

Heretofore rear forks in bicycles of metallic construction, or that part of the metallic frame which, extending from the backbone or perch, connects thelatter with the rearor small wheel, have been made either by forging a head or bifurcated stub for connection with the rear end of the perch, and two forks for connecting this head with the rear wheel pin or axle, one to be on either side of the wheel, and welding these forks or extensions to the head; or else by making a rear fork in two pieces, one for each side of the rear wheel, or in two or more pieces, one or two for each side of the axle, and bolted or riveted to the perch; or by stamping out sheet metal or otherwise constructing of thin semi-tubular metal the two arms or forks, one for each side of the wheel, and having at theirlower end additional pieces brazed on to form the lugs for the rear axle, and connecting above in a head or rounded shoulder with a slot in the center, and having another piece of metal to form a stub or tenon for the rear end of the perch inserted in said slot and brazed or otherwise fastened to said head to form a secure connection for the perch.

The peculiar nature and differences of our improvements over the previous methods of construction will be apparent from the following description, taken in connection with the drawings, in which- Figurel shows in side elevation a metal tube. Fig. 2 shows the same modified by the formation of central parts in one step of our process of making it. Fig. 3 shows the same at another stage of the process still more modified. Fig. 4 shows one half of the same in elevation at the next stage in the process.

50 Fig; 5shows the same after boring and cutting.

and useful Improvements in Bicycles, of which I wheel, connected'with it at the wheel pin or (No model.)

' Fig. 6 shows the same after removal of superfluous parts and completed shaping as our improved rear fork; and Fig. 7 shows the same article as Fig. 6 in side elevation on a plane at right angles to that of Fig. 6.

In constructing our improved fork we take a tube, preferably a small drawn steel tube, of sufficient length to make two of our improved forks, though this is amatter of economy in manufacturing, since each separate fork might be made from a shorter tube in the beginning, and form the middle of it by heating and forging or otherwise to the shape shown in Fig. 2. Having then the two cylinders A A connected by a smaller cylinder, B, and having the curved shoulders to a and the sharper shoulders I) b, we then draw the cylinders A A by means of pony hammers or otherwise to a tapered form, A A and having the smaller ends a a, which have become of considerably thicker metal by the process, the smaller cylindrical part B and the shoulders a a Z) b remaining the same, We then cut this article, as shown in Fig. 3, transverselyin the middle of the smaller cylindrical part B into two similar parts, and each of which in turn is drawn or bent between the shoulderaandthe smaller end a into a curved form, as shown at A in Fig. 4. This latter curvature of A is made partly as a matter of beauty in the structure of the completed b1- cycle of which it is to form a part, and partly for practical superiority for strength and elastioity of structure, though a practicable rear fork of substantially our new construction and our improved method might be used with the omission of this curvature. Having the material in the form shown in Fig. 4 or in Fig. 3 divided, we next cut out of the part A A an aperture, 0, leaving a suitable arch and proportions and pieces 0 C, from which side of the tube will be the forked article with the cylindrical head B and its small shoulder I) and larger cylindrical rounded shoulder a, arms A A, and rear ends, a a with proper 5 proportions for strength and appearance. The parts A A are then brought,b y means of pressure forging or otherwise, to the form and relative position shown in Fig. 6 in rear elevation and in Fig. 7 in side elevation. The ends a proved fork constructed throughout of one homogeneous piece'of metal insuch proportions and distribution as to bestiff and strong, and of appropriate size and shape, and of extreme lightness. We have the arms A A one for either side of the wheel, the lugs a a, which may be perforated, as at a for the wheel pin or axle of the small wheel meeting in the strong cylindrical portion a, and the tenon or small cylindrical projection R and its shoulder 12 to receive the end of the perch of the bicycle, which may be brazed to it in the usual man- We do not here claim the rear fork of im- 20 proved construction which is the product of this process, as we have set it forth and claimed it in another application for apatent thereon.

We claim as new and of our invention The described art of producing said bicycle rear fork out of metallic tubing by shaping the tenon B and shouldersa and b thereon, tapering and thickening the opposite end, removing portionsof the metal, and shaping to required-form, essentially as set forth.

JNO. KNOUS. ALBERT E. VVALLAOE.

Witnesses:

"WM. B. NELsoN, W. B. BROTHERTON. 

